Jimmy Swaggart's Tearful Confession

I was raised in a fundamentalist Protestant faith. Even so, I can't help being amazed by the defense television preachers like Swaggart use when they're inevitably caught walking out of motels with their expensive, shiny slacks around their ankles, to wit: "All men in all walks of life sin."

Well, yeah, but my mailman, dentist, barber and plumber don't strut and thump Bibles at me on TV, or demand that I structure my life to suit their particular world views. Sure, occasionally they may tell me to go to hell, but they don't mean I'll have to dance on hot coals forever and ever.

Hypocrisy, by those of any faith who claim a closeness with God, must be the most deadly sin of all. Those who profit by it strand and leave confused those among us who seek the serenity of a spiritual anchor.